I quite liked The Rats for what it was, and I particularly thought the horror and the gore was done well when it came to the deaths. In a way, it reminded me of my supernaturalthrillernovella, No Rest for the Wicked, probably because they both have that sort of building sense of tension as the enemy seems to get stronger and stronger.

If you’re into horror (and pulp horror in particular) then you’re going to enjoy The Rats, but I can also see why it wouldn’t be for everyone. The writing is just right for the book itself, but it’s not as though it’s beautifully written or unmissable because of the way that Herbert uses the Englishlanguage.

But it is pretty creepy, especially if you don’t like rats, and it’s also pretty brutal such as when a plan develops to stop the spread of the rats by feeding them infecteddogs. The rats themselves are the kind of nemesis that you’d never want to come up against. Don’t bite me.